FREE Email Newsletter

Design engineers and manufacturers want and need ways to get higher current through the connector interface. Using high amperage power plugs and jacks is an effective way to do just that. These components take the old familiar power plug and power jack configuration and make it “new” again, offering manufacturers the potential to more than double the amount of current their devices can handle. In addition, high amperage power plugs and jacks offer the very real opportunity for improved manufacturing efficiencies and overall cost-savings.

Full-gamut color refers to the ability of an LCD device to display the entire range of colors available within 100% overlap of a color space defined by the content creation community. Examples include NTSC, Rec. 709, Adobe RGB, and DCI. While many consumer display announcements refer to “wide-gamut color"...

Today, semiconductors cannot be manufactured without using machine vision. In fact, machine vision is an enabling technology that has made it possible to achieve the density featured in today's integrated circuits and permits cost-effective manufacturing of such circuits. Suppliers of electronic materials, active components, IC packages, passive components and finished electronic equipment all use machine vision to drive high quality production at lower costs. The technology that serves as the basis of both 2-D and 3-D machine vision is becoming more powerful and even more useful in electronic assembly applications. Vision systems now offer even higher resolution, greater speed and better color properties. Lighting is more capable thanks to LED development which is making multi-directional and sequential lighting more cost effective on production lines.

A 3D printer is a machine that creates objects from plastic or other materials using an additive manufacturing process. Additive manufacturing produces objects in a succession of layers from the bottom, up. This is the opposite of traditional subtractive manufacturing processes

The terms “3D printing” and “additive manufacturing” refer to processes that automatically build objects layer by layer from computer data. The technology is already well-used in many sectors including transportation, health care, military and education.

Reading more than one barcode at a time is a challenging application for many manufacturing and material handling engineers. In these applications there is a need to read multiple codes of the same symbology as well as multiple codes of mixed symbologies within one field of view (FOV). Even more difficult is reading one or more codes on multiple sides of a package to verify that the codes match or to output both sides’ read results as one piece of data. Laser scanners have difficulty reading codes that are poorly printed, damaged or defective, are at extreme perspectives and that are omnidirectional. They cannot manage when variations occur in part and package positioning. And they cannot read 2-D codes at all, which means that they have no way to compete in two of the four types of multiple code reading applications we commonly see. Image-based code reading technology can handle much more variation in barcode printing than traditional laser scanners and can also read codes presented at any angle or omnidirectionally. Additionally, the life of an image-based scanner, with no moving parts, is longer and more reliable than a mechanical based laser scanner. With this information, image-based barcode reading solutions make a great replacement for laser scanners even when reading single barcodes and are especially exceptional with multiple barcodes of the same or different symbology types

The design, development and delivery of affordable magnetic components is a complex process. The design development process begins once performance requirements are specified. Upon design approval, the procurement of materials for a prototype build is initiated. During this stage, specifications are not final and options remain open for cost-effective production. Specifications must be reviewed and design trade-offs evaluated to ensure that the technical requirements are economically attainable with consideration given to performance and tolerance in relation to affordable cost.

If contemporary technology has a grand theme, it is that eventually digital will replace analog, and solid state will replace mechanical. Whether it be music or video, publishing or photography, telecommunications or engine control, the story is similar. Mechanical, analog machines have been around for decades, sometimes centuries. They are mature technologies—the kinks have been worked out, the costs have been squeezed as much as possible, the strengths and weaknesses are well understood. The newer solid state, digital challengers at first offer more promise than performance, but with continued innovation and development they come to dominate the market. So it will be with linear barcode readers. The market is currently dominated by mature, opto-mechanical laser scanners. The weaknesses of laser scanners, however, as also well known. When a new image analysis system is combined with advances in image formation including high-intensity LEDs, liquid lenses and megapixel sensors, the result is a mature barcode reader that delivers the promise of solid-state, digital technology while not yielding performance to opto-mechanical laser scanners.

Image-based ID readers stand poised to replace laser scanners in several industries. Thanks to advances in microprocessors, imaging sensors and decoding algorithms, ID readers have become not only more affordable, but also more powerful. Download this white paper to learn how today’s most advanced ID readers have overcome the technical and economic hurdles to offer a more attractive alternative to laser scanners as well as how to choose the right image-based ID reader for your application.

Product safety certification/approval is the process of evaluating an electrical product to applicable standards and/or specifications, which are dictated by the type of product and the locality for which the sale of the product is intended.
Product safety standards were typically written and enforced on a country by country level. Early on, the local nature of the regulations were not problematic, as local markets tended to be served by local manufacturers; American manufacturers built products for American consumers, Japanese manufacturers built for the Japanese consumers, and so on.

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) introduced the ENERGY STAR program in 1992 to encourage the production and use of energy-efficient devices in more than sixty different product categories. Program results have been dramatic-a desktop computer that once consumed 30 watts in sleep mode now uses only 4 watts-with estimated savings of more than 213 billion kilowatts and $12 billion in its first eighteen years.

Significant changes are happening to European environmental regulations. While there has been a great deal of discussion and debate over the past few years, in June 2011 the European Union issued Directive 2011/65/ EU on the restriction of the use of certain hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment. The new directive recasts Directive 2002/95/EC, and has come to be known in the industry as the RoHS Recast. While many of these changes seem confusing, compliance will be mandatory for any company that hopes to sell into that territory. This paper seeks to cut through the complications and lay a foundation that is easy to understand.

Both the Lithium-ion (Li-ion) and Sealed Lead Acid (SLA) battery markets are expected to grow over the next several years. Applications with high voltage and capacity requirements are adopting Li-ion technology because of its many advantages- especially the high energy density, small size and low weight that this technology provides. Historically, SLA batteries have had a few superior technical traits, in addition to their extremely low cost, that have kept them leading the majority of the overall battery market. However, recent innovations in Li-ion chemistry has made it extremely competitive in markets that are weight sensitive and inconvenienced by SLA’s need for frequent maintenance. Many devices have required batteries for power back-up and these are primed for direct Li-ion replacement of SLA. In the medical market alone, these applications include infusion pumps, ventilators, wheelchairs and workstation carts. This paper will outline the technical and business considerations involved in converting an existing product from SLA to Li-ion.

Many medical devices are moving from simple back-up power to true portability. This creates challenges unique to medical devices and adds new advances in battery technology that can enhance and differentiate portable medical products. This white paper will look at the following advances in portable battery technology and the special considerations for medical device applications:
•Lithium Ion (Li-ion) chemistries' advantages over older technology
•Fuel gauging accuracy
•Unique form factors using Li-Polymer
•Use of Lithium Iron Phosphate for high current and Sealed Lead Acid (SLA) replacement
•Sterilization of Li-ion for surgical equipment